I want to call bullshit on point of the bathroom laws being made to protect children. These are the same people who don't want to pass gun control laws after school shootings. The GOP say they care about children, but they don't believe in climate change, so the children will grow up in a world where droughts, wild fires and hurricanes are more common. Also they have economic policies that don't work, so I don't see that helping the children in the future.

Personally I don't care if a transgender person wants to use a public bathroom. When I use one, I'm just there to do what I have to, wash my hands and be on my way. What anyone else does isn't any of my business.

Finally if want really want to protect children, ban Republicans from public bathrooms because they're the ones who get caught having sex in them.

A transgender person who presented and identified as male wouldn't want to use the women's restroom. All this proved is that the abuse is likely to come from non-transgendered men. Which the laws aren't about at all.

Liberty Council's gonna Liberty Council. They're essentially scam artists who deliberately litigate losing but inflammatory cases in order to profit off the ignorant people they speak for. They took the Kim Davis case, for example, which has lost every appeal but will inevitably lead to lucrative book and media deals that they'll get stake in, to say nothing of straight donations. All while enjoying non-profit status.

That comment was the calculated PR move of a particularly cynical group of businessmen.

Moore released a statement by phone and it's as shitty as you're thinking:

Quote:

"The Judicial Inquiry Commission has no authority over the administrative orders of the chief justice of Alabama or the legal injunctions of the Alabama Supreme Court prohibiting probate judges from issuing same-sex marriage licenses," Moore said. "The Judicial Inquiry Commission has chosen to listen to people like Ambrosia Starling, a professed transvestite and other gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals, as well as organizations that support their agenda."

“The question that will be answered in November is whether the Republicans in the General Assembly overplayed their hand, after feeling empowered by impressive gains in the last three election cycles,” the strategist said. “Republicans could lose their veto-proof majority in one or both [legislative] chambers, with a cloud of uncertainty surrounding the governor’s race."

Also, the fight is far from over. The federal government and the state both filed lawsuits. Attorney General Loretta Lynch did not mince her words:

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US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who calls North Carolina her home state, denounced the law as "state-sponsored discrimination" and compared it to racial segregation laws and bans on same-sex marriage.

"This action is about a great deal more than bathrooms," she told reporters.

"This is about the dignity and the respect that we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we as a people and as a country have enacted to protect them."

For anyone who was scared that the Obama administration wouldn't fight this sternly, I think Lynch just about shut that down. And that federal funding?

Quote:

Lynch warned that "we retain the option" to curtail federal funding for the state over the issue, with billions of dollars in government aid potentially at stake, including key education funding.

It could sure as hell happen.

Lynch also said this, which absolutely deserves to be highlighted:

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"No matter how isolated, no matter how afraid, and no matter how alone you may feel today, know this -- that the Department of Justice and indeed the entire Obama administration want you to know that we see you, we stand with you, and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward," she said.

As the votes came in, it became clear Maloney had the support to pass his amendment. The clock ran out and the tally was 217-206. Some lawmakers cheered.

But the vote isn’t official until the gavel comes down, and the Republican lawmaker in the speaker’s chair held the vote open for several more minutes — a sign that GOP leaders were working on flipping some of their members from yes to no.

That’s when the booing began. Lawmakers began chanting, “Shame! Shame! Shame!” and “regular order!” — meaning the gavel should come down since the clock ran out. In the meantime, the vote tally began to shift. A handful of Republicans slowly changed their votes from yes to no. By the end, the vote was 212-213 and the gavel came down to loud boos.

It being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage and approval.

“American Airlines is on high alert as it is rumored that an amendment will be filed to eliminate the aviation fuel tax exemption,” wrote Fenton. “There has been increasing speculation recently that such a repeal would be attempted. Many in the NCGA connect such an amendment with the airline’s high profile call for repeal of House Bill 2.” […]

The company operates about 650 flights a day from Charlotte Douglas International Airport – more than 90 percent of the airport’s total – and employs 11,000 people based at the city. Statewide, American employs 14,000.

I'm pretty amazed that NC Republicans have chosen bathroom privileges as the hill they want to die on. There used to be a time in this country where Republicans would dial back the hatred if businesses felt obligated to get involved. I mean, remember when Arizona and Alabama refused to vote on giving Martin Luther King, Jr. a holiday? Businesses intervened and Republicans changed their tunes quickly (well, Alabama was still a dick about it, but you get the point). Now? NC Republicans are actively attacking businesses and thinking up legislation to hurt them if they show support for transgendered people.

For a large event like Bruce Springsteen, the venue would have hired part-time work from 225 event staff, 60 parking staff, 30 housekeepers and about 100 stagehands, said Andrew Brown, a spokesman for the coliseum complex.

Concessions booths staffed by organizations such as the Walter Hines Page High School Band Boosters, who get a cut of the funding for their programs, were left with nothing. They can reap at least $600 a night when the shows are on, which helps them pay to dry clean uniforms and feed the marching band before away games.

Band boosters were scheduled to work both Springsteen and Cirque du Soleil, said treasurer Dan Kasper, whose son plays trumpet.

Badreldin Mustafa, general manager at Tito's Pizza, said a concert night nearly doubles his business because visitors must walk by to get to the coliseum. Jesus Macias, who owns La Bamba Mexican restaurant, said servers rely on tips from those three or four major events to balance out a dwindling stream of regulars the rest of the year.

Unfortunately, the little guy always gets hurt by these decisions. It sucks, but I don't blame Springsteen and others for opting out. I also don't blame acts who decided to play and then donated the money to fight the law (Against Me! being the best example). I'm not really sure what the right answer is, but I do think that both have positive impacts. The city of Greensboro, for instance, is definitely not on board with this law, especially after the city's arena was affected by the cancellations:

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The Greensboro Coliseum Complex, the city's economic powerhouse, estimated it lost $188,000 from three no-shows so far, according to Ted Oliver, chairman of the advisory board to the complex. The city sent the governor a May 12 letter asking him to reconsider his support of the law.

“This guy walks in and goes to the bathroom, the urinal,” Adams said. “Then he just, like, turns to me and starts freaking out, dropping the ‘F-bomb,’ and what he was freaking out about was that my daughter was in the men’s bathroom.”

The man allegedly told Adams it was “inappropriate” that his daughter was with him and then began to push him. After giving a curt response, Adams tried to shepherd his kids out.

Speaking to KSL, Adams pointed to a bruise on his left eye: “When I turned back around, I got sucker-punched right here.” He said he was also kicked.

I have never witnessed someone have a freakout over a father bringing his young daughter in the men's room before. I'd say we lost the plot, but I'm convinced there wasn't a plot to begin with.

Louie Gohmert now relying on science fiction to attack the LGBT community:

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If you could decide what 40 people you put on the spacecraft that would save humanity, how many of those would be same-sex couples? You’re wanting to save humankind for posterity, basically a modern-day Noah. You have that ability to be a modern day Noah. You can preserve life. How many same-sex couples would you take from the animal kingdom and from humans to put on a spacecraft to perpetuate humanity and the wildlife kingdom? That’s why it’s been called part of the natural law, natural law given by the creator.

I have never witnessed someone have a freakout over a father bringing his young daughter in the men's room before. I'd say we lost the plot, but I'm convinced there wasn't a plot to begin with.

The plot is that its a wedge issue. The GOP aren't good on the economy, foreign policy, and don't believe in climate change, but they will protect you from something that isn't even a real problem. Since most of the country is cool with gay marriage, they had to find something to outrage "moral" people.

This whole bathroom thing is ridiculous. My fiancee and I went to the zoo yesterday for memorial day, and at one point, she needed to use the restroom. While waiting in line, a mother came in with her small boy. Another woman in line promptly told her that this was the woman's restroom. If that mother was there with her child alone, or if she had a female partner, or if her partner was doing something else, what is she supposed to do with the child? Let him go into a restroom alone? It is absurd.

Giuliani jumped at the chance to help the couple make it official, for both personal and symbolic reasons. He’s convinced Segal and Hatch are a perfect match. “Travis really grounds Scott — a good marriage is one where each person gets stronger and better because of their connection to one another, and that is certainly the case,” he says. And, more broadly, “I’m glad our society has come to this point.”

This is disgraceful, and Anderson Cooper should be ashamed of himself. If he really wants to honor the memory of those people, this is exactly the wrong way to do it. I never would’ve imagined he’d step over the bodies of terror victims to harangue an ideological opponent about his pet issue, but obviously I gave him too much credit. What a petty display from a small man.

People like Cooper, and that other jackass Dan Savage, think that enduring a lifetime of bullying gives them a license to bully others. It doesn’t. They’re just like the people they disdain.

Well, this is a glimmer of humanity. A Republican from Utah said this:

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I believe that we can all agree we have come a long way as a society when it comes to our acceptance and understanding of the LGBTQ community (did I get that right?). However, there has been something about this tragedy that has very much troubled me. I believe that there is a question, two questions actually, that each of us needs to ask ourselves in our heart of hearts. And I am speaking now to the straight community. How did you feel when you heard that 49 people had been gunned down by a self-proclaimed terrorist? That's the easy question. Here is the hard one: Did that feeling change when you found out the shooting was at a gay bar at 2 a.m. in the morning? If that feeling changed, then we are doing something wrong.

On Friday, President Obama formally recognized that history, declaring the Greenwich Village bar and its surrounding area the Stonewall National Monument, and creating the first National Park Service unit dedicated to the gay rights movement.

According to the White House, the monument designation will consist of 7.7 acres, protecting the tavern, Christopher Park across the street, and several other streets and sidewalks where spontaneous protests were held for equal rights in 1969.

“The Stonewall Uprising is considered by many to be the catalyst that launched the modern L.G.B.T. civil rights movement,” President Obama wrote in a proclamation announcing the monument’s establishment. “From this place and time, building on the work of many before, the nation started the march — not yet finished — toward securing equality and respect for L.G.B.T. people.”